Re: What makes a really great Strat?
I think a tight neck/body joint is a sign of good workmanship rather than acoustic properties. There's lots of Fenders with sloppy pockets that sing sweetly. A big thing is for me is to make sure its seated tightly to the end of the pocket.
A too tight neck/body joint can result in finish cracks around the neck/body joint.
Wood screws are a proven thing - they can strip the neck holes over time though. I think a problem with inserts is that if the screws are too tight, the neck plate can pillow and the corners dig into the wood. You take the good with the bad.
First point is true, however a tight neck / body joint means that string vibrations have an easier time travelling and that there's less flub / potential for each part to shift freely. I will agree that too tight of a neck joint can cause stress cracks though. However, I've also played several strats where the pocket had - on both sides (upper horn and lower horn sides) enough room to fit dimes on either side. That's not shimming, that's just flat out poor work. The test for me is twofold: one, is there a LOT of wood / wood contact (ie: no paint, stickers, etc.,) and two is there no space needed for shims (and even better, can the neck hold up the body without screws. What does this tell me? Odds are very good that the guitar, when plucked / strummed / chorded, is going to vibrate as much as a singular piece as possible, in spite of whatever multi-piece conditions predispose it. The greater the "area of contact" is between the neck and the body, the more area the vibrations have to travel between neck / body, and thus the stronger the potential vibrations can be.
As far as machine screws go. I went with stainless screws / stainless inserts. This allows for maximum clamping power, and further pushes the neck into the pocket as well - further improving the joint's contact area. Yes, I know I've probably bent the neckplate a bit in a convex shape, but the flaw with wood screws you stated - the ability to cross-thread, and thus strip, the screw holes - made me go to machine screws. I will say that once I put them in, whenever the lower three strings are strummed open, I can feel air movements on my fingers at close proximity to the strings. Why? The vibrations carry that well when the joint is that strong. IMHO, the only thing stronger than a tight joint with machine screws would be a guitar that is wholly one piece (ie: the neck and body are a single contiguous piece of wood. By exploiting and maximizing the acoustic properties through the improvement of joint connections as well as a good joint (for starting point), it makes the guitar more resonant, and thus a greater natural volume (which translates - USUALLY - into better tone, although there is a strat at the GC near my house with PHENOMENAL acoustics, but horrific electronics... and it's a CS, so I'm that much more reticent to procure it).
Anyway, I do wish that my strat had more "great strat" things - and that to me means a fatter - but not flubby - sound. I would like to have had a nitro coat instead of Poly, and perhaps thicker springs so I wouldn't have to use 5 springs to keep the bridge clamped down (again, the less stuff that can wiggle / move, the more resonance / acoustic loudness) we can get. I guess then my perfect strat would mix the coating on a wildwood thin skin, the neck of a '59, the compound radius and "inlaid board" of an american select hss, and a bevy of pickguards to suit my needs. The modularity of the strat alone, makes it so great. You could play a set with low output pickups, and in 15 to 20 minutes, put in a new pickguard and have a screaming monster.
Jason
